Optimal trial number for D-optimal designs based on efficiency-cost ratio analysis

In engineering experiments, the more trial times are not always the better, especially for high-cost and long-period ones. But in practice, the trial number usually only depends on the design efficiency without considering the cost of an experiment, which may cause unnecessary waste. So, the optimal trial number of D-optimal design is investigated in this paper. Based on efficiency-cost ratio (E-C ratio) and considering the G-efficiency, a determination method for the optimal trial number of D-optimal design is given. The proposed method is applied to the cutting process of aluminum alloy thin-walled workpiece, and the results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.